beautiful mess

A week into September--School is back in session, the evening breeze turns chilly, and pumpkin-spiced latte lovers are rejoicing. I love fall. If you're a normal person, you love fall, too. 

This fall in particular brings quite a bit for us: the official beginning of our homeschooling journey, a much-anticipated Abui & Grandpa visit, and surgery for this mama (and recovery from said surgery, whatever that'll look like).

I’m not sure what it is about these autumn months that turn me introspective (or more introspective than usual). I imagine that just as the cold weather calls us back inside to the comforts of home, this time of year also draws me inward, and I tend to reflect more and ask more questions and look deeper inside my heart. And this soul of mine… it’s messy, and I’m not always sure where to put things, how to put them all in order, or make sense of everything that’s in there.     But it’s home.    And even though there’s a hodgepodge of broken pieces and half-baked ideas scattered throughout, I am overwhelmed by Peace, by Comfort, by the One who wraps me like a warm blanket on a cold day. 

That sunlight dancing through the trees and pouring into my window? That makes everything okay. Things might be a mess in here, but it’s a beautiful mess--because He’s here, too.

And just for fun, a currently-at-home list.

Currently at home, endless piles of:

Books on homeschooling
Colorful plastic bowls in the sink
Love in the form of stick figure cowboy drawings
Puzzle pieces on the floor
Laundry

Diapers
Cabela’s catalogues (clearly, they know how to invest their marketing dollars)
Pears and apples and grapes from kind friends who grow food
Thrifted furniture waiting to be painted
Toys under the couch and hangouts under the table

Little cherry tomatoes (little miss sneaks them off the vine but is not in the least bit interested in actually eating them, so we find them strewn all over the backyard)

Happy Monday to you and you, friends. Have a great week.